Dear UJ Community,
As is now public knowledge, the government yesterday evening announced its decision to move the country to a COVID-19 Adjusted Alert Level 1 from Level 2, as from today. As usual, such decision has implications for the Post-School Education and Training (PSET) sector. Like other higher institutions of higher learning, our University is affected.
As you would recall, we recently indicated that when an announcement is made to move the country to Alert Level 1, all staff should return to their workstations on campuses and other University sites. Now that the announcement has been made, all staff should report to their workstations as from this coming Monday, 4 October 2021.
In domains where exceptions are required, these requests will be considered by the Executive Committee of the COVID-19 Coordinating Committee (CCC). Members of the Executive Leadership Group and Senior Directors should submit the request to the offices of the Chief Operating Officer, Professor Andre Swart, and the Register, Prof Kinta Burger. In considering these requests, ELG members must also consider the HR documentation and guidelines for staff above 60 and those with comorbidities, to return to work.
Staff return to workstations will be done in terms of the government’s COVID-19 health and safety management regulations. As communicated, line managers of various domains should ensure that there is sufficient supply of sanitisers in their domains. Procurement has already indicated that sufficient stock is available, and where there may be backlogs, this process should be done expeditiously. It is important to note that the status quo remains with regard to the academic programme delivery: all students will continue to be supported through remote/online teaching, learning and assessment for the remainder of the second semester. Only students enrolled for modules that require in person contact provision, such as laboratory or clinical work, experiential learning, etc., will be done on campus in contact mode.
Please inform us about your vaccination status via the link: https://ulink.uj.ac.za/ujvac. Enter the information after your first vaccination, and where relevant, update it after your second vaccination. The survey takes less than one minute. We use the numbers (and not your personal details), to inform us on the vaccination statistics of the UJ community. The statistics will guide us in our response to the COVID-19 situation and the implementation of our re-integration plans. You may also use this link to notify our campus clinics if you have tested positive for COVID-19, or if you know of a colleague or a student who has tested positive.
The University leadership will continue to monitor the national and provincial COVID-19 outlook, and an update will be provided accordingly. This information may be verified by visiting: www.uj.ac.za/coronavirus. We appeal to you all to adhere to the recommended precautionary measures, hygiene and physical distancing at all the times.
Should any of you experience symptoms of the coronavirus, please use the National Hotline of 0800 029 999 or WhatsApp line 0600 123456 or go to the following link for more information: https://sacoronavirus.co.za/. Please also continue to check uLink. Please notify our campus clinics if you have tested positive for COVID-19, or if you know of a colleague or a student who has tested positive.
Issued by University Management
University of Johannesburg
Times mentioned in this newsletter refer to the South African time-zone.
